


Pursuit

by prosaicwonder



Series: Chasing the Dragon [2]
Category: Beyblade, ベイブレードバースト | Beyblade Burst (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Gen, Headcanon, One Shot, Spoilers, Subtext
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 06:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9587117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosaicwonder/pseuds/prosaicwonder
Summary: After all this time, I would still not allow myself to give up on him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to Encounters. The rest of the series will be written in Gou’s POV as well.  
> This story takes place a year after Encounters and around three years before the events of anime season 1.

If I had to be honest, I’d say that it had been humiliating when Lui defeated me in the national tournament.

 

Up until the regional tournament last year, no one else in the school had even known that Lui was a blader. No one would’ve guessed that the transfer student who barely spoke in the classroom would end up becoming Champion, and would then go on to win three more times after that. In our last serious match, Gaia had Burst in less than five seconds.

 

I had accepted that it was my own fault for not knowing much about Beyblading outside of Japan: it is said that top bladers’ training regimes are even more difficult overseas. I had also decided that I needed to make a change to my practice routine - the loss was a clear sign that I needed to try a new approach in order to get better.

 

Still, I had thought many times after Lui’s first victory about whether he had been exposed to those other types of regimes before he had returned to Japan. I had also wondered how old he had been when he started Beyblading - it seemed like he had been playing the sport for a while already.

 

It probably did not matter, but I wanted to know more about him. Clearly Beyblade was something he enjoyed; it made me wonder if he liked any other things, too.

 

* * *

 

Back when the two of us had first met, there was no such thing as a team at the school. There were not enough members to make the club official. Everyone in the team - I had vowed - would be committed to practicing regularly and participating in tournaments.

 

One day I was approached one day by another guy in my year, Katana Sakaki, who became the first unofficial team member. A classmate of Katana’s, Shinki Mikuni, joined shortly after. It had been a challenge to find more members, as many of the bladers who tried being on the team dropped out after being unable to cope with the practice sessions. Perhaps I was being overly strict in this matter, but it was for the sake of the team.

 

Despite the constantly-changing roster of their team members, we had managed to form an official club, which was later recognised by the school and the WBBA.

 

“What should we name the team?” Katana asked one day. Our group had been designing the team logo during one of our lunch breaks.

 

“Depends… what do we want to be known as?” Shinki replied, looking down at his blank sheet of paper. “… What is our purpose in the team?”

 

“We have to be able to survive any attack,” I had told them. “To be able to get through any bey battle.”

 

“That’s true,” Katana said. “Isn’t there an English expression like that somewhere?”

 

“Oh yeah, there is one!” Shinki replied. “I know which one you’re thinking of: Riding Out, or something?”

 

He had pulled out his tablet and typed something into the search engine before flipping it around to show us the screen. “Here it is: Rideout! To be able to get through a difficult and tough situation…”

 

“I like it,” Katana said as he and Shinki had exchanged smiles. Shortly afterwards, they both turned to look at the other boy. “What about you, Gou?”

 

Seeing their excitement for the team made a small smile spread across Gou’s face too.

 

“I approve.”

 

* * *

 

After school ended the next day, I had packed up my things and was getting ready to go practice when Lui had stomped his way over to my desk. I could easily feel the rage coming off him, like black smoke from a burning building.

 

I resisted the urge to sigh before turning to face him fully, leaving my bag open. “What is it, Lui?”

 

He did not reply, so I returned to packing my books into my bag. I had ignored the hostile figure next to me, until he finally spoke:

 

“What is this ‘new Beyblade club’ that everyone keeps going on about?”

 

Oh.

 

“We finalised everything today,” I had told him casually, referring to the logo design and club naming from earlier. “From now on, the team will be known as Rideout.”

 

“ _Team_ ,” Lui had echoed. It was not a question, and it seemed as if he was about to scoff at what I had said, but nothing else happened.

 

“Yes, team,” I told him. “At the moment, we have enough members, but a lot of them drop out quickly because they can’t keep up.” Silence.

 

“I intend to enter the national team tournament with the other members this year,” I said, before pausing to think about what I wanted to say next.

 

“You’re the strongest blader out of all of us. You could easily be Captain.”

 

That deadly aura did not subside; if anything, it seemed to grow worse than before.

 

“ _No_.” he had said sharply, before turning around to leave our classroom. I had quickly finished packing my bag and ran out after him.

 

“Lui!” I called out as I had caught up to him. He stopped moving after I reached down to grab his shoulder.

 

Suddenly, Lui whirled around and leaned forward, thrusting his face out until it was almost touching my chest.

 

“Listen here,” he hissed lowly as the crease on his forehead deepened. “I want _nothing_ to do with this team, or any type of team affairs. I will keep practicing on my own.”

 

I exhaled before remaining silent for a while. It was, admittedly, difficult to talk to Lui sometimes. It made me remember how my other classmates tried to befriend him, only to be told to 'go away’ or 'disappear’. Since Lui’s arrival over a year ago, I had told myself that I would not give up on him, no matter who else did.

 

“I understand what you mean and I respect that,” I said eventually. “But wouldn’t it be better for you to battle with Rideout?”

 

Lui had stepped back and let out a sort of unimpressed snort at that. I let my hand drop to my side before continuing:

 

“If the team wins, then you will have another title, and you get to battle opponents just like in the individual tournament.”

 

I waited for Lui’s response, gazing down at his seemingly impassive expression. He blinked a few times, his long eyelashes obscuring the light in his violet eyes, before he spoke again.

 

“Fine,” he said, before his initial suspicious gaze softened slightly. “But I’m only doing this as a practice round before the real tournament.”

 

I resisted the urge to pull a face at that: did he not think that team tournaments would have proper matches? Why did he have to say things like this…?

 

I forced myself to smile at him before replying: “Thank you. I will introduce you tomorrow, if that’s alright?”

 

He made an affirmative noise at that, which nearly made me exhale in relief; I say 'nearly’ because of what he said next.

 

“Just remember this,” Lui spat, glaring into my eyes as his mouth contorted into a sneer. “You’re the only exception.” Once again, he had turned around and walked off.

 

'One day I will catch him before he runs away again,’ I had thought before exiting the classroom for the day, replaying Lui’s words over and over in my mind.

 

* * *

 

Back at home, I had been thinking about our earlier conversation. Why had Lui reacted that way after finding out about the school club…?

 

It had confused me a little, since the rest of the school had been excited at the prospect of having a legitimate Beyblade team that would participate in any future tournaments.

 

Before the club was formed, I’d battle against whoever had challenged me during practices (Admittedly, there weren’t many who did) or I would practice alone. After my defeat in last year’s tournament, however, Lui would come to practice with me sometimes. He had said something about how he needed to be around 'like-minded bladers’.

 

Despite my confusion at this, I allowed him to practice with me. We’d have practice matches just as intense as tournament ones, where we’d both give it our all. Sometimes the other kids would crowd around and try to see the two of us practicing, but anyone who was noticed would face Lui’s wrath shortly afterward.

 

Other times, in the rare moments when we were not practicing, we would sit and talk or have lunch together. Sometimes, Lui would suddenly start talking about his past regardless of what we had or had not been talking about previously: I learned that Lui was an only child who grew used to being alone because his parents were busy with work all the time, and that his blunt attitude came from being exposed to the way people acted over there. Because his parents weren’t often around, no one was there to reprimand him if he said or did something bad. During our conversations, Lui wouldn’t speak for very long - at most, he would say one or two sentences - and then our conversation would fall into a comfortable silence. Sometimes I would ask him a question in response and he would answer, but most of the time we’d just sit together in silence.

 

Whenever Lui was not around, some of the other classmates would approach me and ask me about him (“Hey, what’s it like it be around Lui? Is he really as scary as he seems?”). Something had probably changed within me, because I disliked the way some of them treated him like he was an outsider. Even though it was Lui who pushed everyone away, it had been over a year since he arrived here - he was still one of us.

 

At the same time, I didn’t want to reveal too much about Lui in case they decided to inundate him with more questions, so I would just reply simply: “It’s good to be around him.”

 

I think most of my classmates would’ve thought I was crazy, if it had not been for the fact that I was Rideout’s captain.

 

'Tomorrow I’ll introduce Lui to the rest of the team members,’ I had thought before falling asleep that night.

 

* * *

 

The introduction had been awkward enough.

 

Shinki and Katana had exchanged looks of shocked surprise (which I pretended I didn’t notice) when I had gestured towards the figure at my side and told them: “As you probably know, Lui is also in our year. He will be a member of Rideout from now on.”

 

After getting over the initial shock, the two of them turned towards us with forced smiles.

 

“Nice to meet you at last, Lui Shirasagijo.” Katana said as he stepped forward.

“Welcome to Rideout,” Shinki added as he did the same, reaching a hand out towards Lui. “It’s good to finally be able to speak to you.”

 

What followed next had been a long period of silence. The tension was so thick that I could’ve cut through it with a knife.

 

Without turning my head, I watched Lui out of the corner of my eye: he seemed even more closed-off than ever, and stood exactly the same way as he did when he had walked into our classroom as a transfer student for the first time. Not good.

 

I allowed myself to turn my head slightly, which made his gaze shift towards me. His severe expression had faded slightly once his eyes had met mine, and then he suddenly turned his head away from all of us as he let out a disapproving 'Tch’ in response.

 

I wanted to sigh again; why couldn’t he acknowledge others more?

 

We had gone over the team rules and arranged times for our weekly practice schedules; Lui’s presence had caused some more uneasiness among the group, but I ignored it for the time being and felt relieved when the meeting had finally ended.

 

After saying goodbye to Shinki and Katana, I managed to catch him before he disappeared again. I had held him in place, with my hand fixed on his shoulder as he looked up at me questioningly.

 

I finally let out the sigh I had been holding back since the meeting started. “Lui, we need to talk.”

 

As tactfully as possible, I explained that he would need to acknowledge the other team members if he was to battle as a member of Rideout. He had been silent the entire time, and didn’t flinch or bat my hand away while I talked. His eyes were no longer angry, but he seemed to be thinking deeply about something; something was definitely going on beneath the surface.

 

There was another lengthy silence before Lui spoke again, stunning me into speechlessness.

 

“Gou.”

 

For the first time, Lui had addressed me by my first name only. He seemed unfazed as he continued: “I’m leaving the rest of the team matters to you. The only thing I am interested in is battling.”

 

Blinking away the shock, I narrowed my gaze as I focused my attention on him. “If that’s what you wish for, then so be it.” I told him firmly.

 

“Fine with me, but don’t you dare screw this up.” he hissed before he turned away to leave. The words had left me feeling more uneasy than I had been earlier. Lui was not the type to say things frivolously; while I was left wondering what he had meant with those words, it had also evoked a strange churning feeling within me. ' _Don’t you dare screw this up_ ’ - I had figured out later - referred to my status as team Captain.

 

'Something bad must’ve happened to him,’ a voice had whispered in my mind.

 

Back then, I had ignored my gut feeling, which proved to be a horrible mistake. If I had listened, perhaps things wouldn’t have declined to the state they were in now…

 

* * *

 

Later in the same year, Lui had won the individual tournament for the second time. What had sweetened the bitter taste of defeat was knowing that Rideout had won gold for the team tournament for the first time.

 

Things had been tense prior to the team’s first tournament: there was conflict among the other members which had been the cause of our first major argument. Lui had refused to participate in the team tournament afterwards, and had shut himself off from the rest of us again.

 

At the team tournament, it had been Katana, Shinki and I who ended up participating in battles. After we received our medals and had our photographs taken, the news articles had multiplied overnight. There had also been an element of scandal included, as the media had picked up on Lui’s refusal to battle as a team member and used this to their advantage so that more people would read their articles.

 

Honestly, I had been angry with Lui back then, but I was also extremely worried about him. When the media would ask me about him or say derogatory things behind his back, I learned to just ignore them or tell those people to leave. As frustrated as I was with Lui’s behaviour, treating him like an object and disrespecting his privacy was something I would not tolerate: he had been misunderstood enough already since his return to Japan.

 

I did notice afterwards that the overall mood of the club had grown darker: barely anyone smiled or laughed anymore. Lui had been acting different, too. Since his first win the previous year he had gotten stronger; however, he seemed even angrier than he used to be. I had been seeing less of him since Rideout was founded, and whenever I saw him in class he always seemed tired. His usually-bright violet eyes were marked by dark rings, and I knew just by seeing them that he had not been sleeping properly.

 

I needed to get through to Lui; after all this time, I would still not allow myself to give up on him.

 

* * *

 

“Why do you always do this?” Lui said one day as he stood over the giant cable machine. We had made it a habit of going to the national training center every week; Lui would also be there but he would never train in the same room as us.

 

His small frame lurched forward as the machine sucked the wire back in, making a clicking noise as the handle moved back into its original position. “Is it fun for you to interrupt me every time I train, Gou?”

 

“Lui-”

 

“Get _out_ ,” he spat venomously.

 

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.” I said calmly.

 

“Stop wasting my time. If it’s that important, then talk to me after this.” he said before yanking the handle of the machine once again.

 

“ _LUI!!_ ”

 

What happened next had been a blur. As the wire had been pulled back, Lui seemed to wobble on his feet, and on instinct I rushed forward to catch him before he landed backwards onto the floor. My one arm was wrapped tightly across his back, and his head had fallen back and rested against the inside of my elbow.

 

Slowly, his eyes fluttered open; I think he would’ve glared at me if he had not been in his current state.

 

“ _Lui_ ,” I repeated, firmer this time. “I’m worried about you!”

 

His eyes had narrowed at my words, and then - after he shot the deadliest of glares towards me - he pushed himself up and out of my arms.

 

“Can you stand?” I asked him as he shifted into a sitting position on the floor. He ignored me as he moved to stand up on his own.

 

“Go away,” he said lowly after we were both facing each other again. I narrowed my eyes as my hands balled into fists.

 

“I don’t know what you’re doing, but it’s clearly a problem.” I said. “You haven’t been sleeping, haven’t you?”

 

“Sleep?” He echoed, before the corners of his mouth curved up into a distorted grin, showing his sharp white teeth. “I don’t need to. All I care about now is practice. Then I will finally become the same as Longinus.”

 

In the space of the huge training room, nothing but the sound of his chilling laughter could be heard.


End file.
